Lavishing praise on debutant Venkatesh Iyer, skipper Eoin Morgan said the Madhya Pradesh batsman's unbeaten knock against Royal Challengers Bangalore signified the "aggressive" brand of cricket Kolkata Knight Riders aspire to play.
After bowling out RCB for a paltry 92, openers Iyer (41 not out) and Shubhman Gill (48) helped KKR cruise to a nine-wicket win with 10 overs to spare.
“I think Venky, the way he came in and played, was outstanding. Certainly, the brand of cricket we want to play. We have a lot of talent within our group," Morgan said at the post-match press conference.
“Playing the Brendon McCullum (way), that’s the aggressive nature in which we want to play.
“Although he was very aggressive, he managed to play with drastic control throughout the innings and his opening partnership with Shubman Gill was beautiful to watch,” he added.
Swashbuckling all-rounder Andre Russell came in at number three and asked whether this would often be the case, Morgan said, “No, I think it is open to interpretation.” “I think, given the way that we played today and the position that we found ourselves in and the run-chase we had an opportunity to really affect our run-rate position, hence Russ (Russell) going up the order,” he explained.
Despite the big-win, Morgan conceded that it was a challenge for his side to make the last four, as they are currently on the fifth spot with six points from eight games.
“There is no doubt that it is going to be a challenge, but our main aim is turn up and try and play cricket like we have done today. I think if we do that, we give ourselves the best chance of progressing,” said the England limited overs skipper.
“It is something that the franchise has done before and gone on to win the championship, so we take confidence from that but more so from our performance with the ball and the bat and in the field today.
"Moving forward, if we continue to play in that manner, it makes us a dangerous side,” Morgan signed off.
